Frustrated and Angry
by AggresiveFangirling
Summary: After the traumatic training session, Wally is stressed out but won't talk to Black Canary about his problems. At night, when nightmares attack him and memories of that dreaded place come back to him, he decides not to sleep. Later meeting Artemis in the lounge, he takes out all his anger on her, leaving a still more tangled web to fix.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey, y'all! Yep, I'm back and writing! This will probably be another long-ish fic! I haven't done chapter spitfire fics in a looong time, so this should be fun!_

 _Disclaimer: I don't own YJ, though I do own a jar of nutella, which is like heaven._

 _SET AFTER 16TH EPISODE, SEASON ONE, "FAILSAFE"_

 _Hope you enjoy reading thisss!_

 _ARIGHT, LET'S GEDDITT_

* * *

" _I'd rather talk about you, babe." Wally said, smirking coyly at Black Canary._

She sighed. "So you're not at all going to open up to me about the training session? We saw your reaction, Wally, _I_ saw it. When Artemis died-"

"Look! I don't want to talk about this, okay? I don't care about her, not in that way, and I didn't care when she 'died'" Wally cut in angrily, making air quotes. "It doesn't matter. It's over so why talk about it? Nothing happened, I don't care, _period_!"

Dinah sighed. "Wally…"

"Don't 'Wally' me, okay?"

She rolled her eyes. "Wally, sit _down_. You're letting anger take over your emotions. Can you just admit that you got afraid when everyone...disappeared? When Art-"

Wally pushed himself up, "Stop, okay? I didn't get afraid, nothing happened. Stop talking about that... _replacement_ like I actually care about her!"

Dinah didn't flinch. "You're running away from this, Wally, like all of the other things you do."

"I'm Kidflash, that's my job."

"Fine. Run away from it, it'll still always be there. I'm also still here to talk when you need to, okay?" Dinah put a hand on Wally's shoulder. He glanced back at her, and saw warmth and care behind her firmness.

"Alright.." he muttered, giving her a short nod. "But I _won't_ need it."

* * *

Artemis sat in her room in the cave, curled up on the ground. She was still shaken from the traumatic experience. She could still feel the pain when the tank hit her in the session. It was still there, not physically, but mentally.

After she 'died', Artemis could hear her teammates yelling for her, and M'gann sobbing. Somewhere in the distance, she even heard Wally, angrily going around.

 _She_ was afraid; Artemis was afraid.

What if that happened in real life? Could she be the reason the whole training session failed? She must have been. Maybe her teammates would be still alive she hadn't died, maybe she could have just moved out of the way and nothing would have happened. If that actually happened in real life and she messed up…it could cost the fate of the whole mission, just like it did in the session. It could fail, and everyone would _really_ die because of her stupid actions.

Artemis stifled a sob. She was trembling. "What have I done….It's all my fault.." she whispered.

The others had told her it wasn't, they had comforted her, told her how afraid they were when she died. Artemis didn't really believe it when M'gann and Zatanna said that she was like family to them. How could she be? No one liked her in the team… She was only a side figure who helped.

Artemis was used to it. She was used to getting treated like dirt. Her father, sister, no one _actually_ cared about her, and she knew it. But when the team told her that they did, – all besides Wally, of course - she felt a strange emotion rise. One she hadn't thought of before, or perhaps, _let in_.

She had never opened her heart to anyone anymore, for fear that they'd just crush it later, or that it was all just a dream. Artemis couldn't… _love_ anymore.

So as she sat on the floor, Artemis bit her lip. "What have I done…" she sighed. She hadn't been able to sleep that night. Only nightmares arose from that dreaded session, and all she was able to do was twist and turn, shift and shake, and feel as if she was the reason everything came crashing down.

"I need to get out of here…get some fresh air.."

* * *

 _"Artemis!" Wally shouted. The whole world went in slow motion for him as the tank shot at archer. Artemis didn't see it coming, she turned around just as the laser hit her in the back and crushingly dissolved her into bones until she was quite, quite gone._

 _"NOOOOO!" Wally yelled, unable to move. Artemis was gone, she had died. She got killed. All Wally remembered of her was the ghastly look on her face before she got shot._

"Artemis!"

Wally shot up in bed. He was covered in sweat. "Artemis…" he breathed loudly. "Just a dream…it's..just..a dream.." he panted.

He was having nightmares today, all of a certain archer as she died. Wally couldn't save her. He hated that. It was his fault the mission got spoilt. Kidflash, the fastest boy on the planet, couldn't run and get her out of the way before she got zapped.

Wally swallowed, "How could I not…Why didn't I…" he covered his face with his hands, unable to bear the pain of the scene that kept playing itself over and over again in his head.

He got out of bed, and felt cold air hit his bare chest. "..Arte…mis…" he whispered.

Wally stumbled towards the door, and with sweaty hands twisted the handle and slipped out. He went down the hallway, forgetting the cold in his evident fear. There was a light coming from the lounge, and as he stepped inside, he saw a small figure curled up on the couch, her blonde hair thrown messily over her shoulders.

Artemis' knees were pulled close to her chest as she sat there, biting her lip in a vain attempt to forget what happened that day.

"Still awake?"

Wally looked confusedly at her. "You saw me coming?"

"I heard you…" Artemis replied blandly. "It's dead quiet in the cave today.."

"You seem quiet as well. Strange, right?" Wally commented, expecting her to shoot back a comeback at him.

She didn't. Artemis only sighed. "Wally..I'm not in the mood…okay?" she said, swallowing as she turned to face him.

"Rough night for everyone, huh.." he stated. Artemis nodded.

"So….how was your…session with Dinah?" she asked presently, when the two fell into silence once more.

Wally's face hardened. "Why do you want to know?"

"I don't…I'm just asking.." Artemis told him quietly.

"Well, don't, okay? I'm tired of people asking me what I thought, or how I felt!" he said a little harshly. Artemis flinched.

"Sorry.." As if it wasn't strange enough to hear Artemis apologize. "..It's been tough for everyone…especially in the training thing.." she mused.

Wally's eyes narrowed. "Everyone?" he snarled. "No, not _everyone_. _You_ died. If you'd just moved ou of the way, nothing would have happened!"

Artemis frowned. "It wasn't my fault, okay? It was meant to get worse and-"

"Well, yeah! But you just _couldn't_ move out of the way, right? Everything went horrible after that! M'gann got upset, everything was ruined!"

Artemis glared at him. "You're saying it's _my_ fault? It was M'gann's when she started crying and forgot, not mine! I don't blame her, but can you for once just get your head out of liking her and think about others?"

"Of course it's your fault! And I do care about others, just not _you_!"

Silence.

 _Deathly, horrible silence_.

Artemis didn't speak. She didn't say a word, only looked at Wally, with pain in her eyes. Just that made Wally regret what he'd said. It wasn't true at all, but he let his anger get the better of him and shouted at the girl who made him feel the way he felt right now. Frustrated, annoyed, sad..

Artemis' lips quivered. "…No one does..care..you're r-right…" she whispered brokenly. "I'm s-sorry..for hurting you…"

Before Wally could say anything, she turned around and fled from the room. "Artemis, wait! I didn't mean…" but she was gone. The last thing Wally saw was a tear drop from her eye, and a hurt look etched on her face.

"I didn't mean it…I'm sor – UGH! Why am I such a _screw up?!_ "


	2. Chapter 2

_Hi, again. Every time I say I'm back, I guess I sorta leave again. Real life is.. absolutely horrible right now, and I'm trying to deal with a lotta stuff, sorry. Anywho, scribbled another chapter after seeing the last review._

 _Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice._

 _Replying to_ Disappointed: _Yeah.. Or at least that's what I'm trying to do. Anyway, you might be disappointed, so.. sorry about that, but you sorta reminded me about this. Hope you like it?_

* * *

Artemis wasn't seen by anyone the next morning, and it was safe to assume that she'd gone home. And as for Wally, he simply in the lounge until morning, unable to sleep, and too tired to go for his daily morning run.

"Good morning, Wally!"

Wally whipped around and saw M'gann standing in front of him, smiling brightly, but it was evident that she hadn't gotten the best sleep either. Her happy tone was present as usual, but there was a restless look in her eyes which wasn't one the team was used to seeing.

Wally forced a smile. "Morning, Megan." He tried to look just as excited, but was obviously unable to. He looked troubled, and M'gann had already taken that into account and sat down next to him.

"Well, look who's up early. Guess I won't need to ask Superboy to dump a jug of water on you to wake you today," she joked. He laughed weakly at her attempt to lighten the mood.

She expected him to reply with another one of his cheesy lines, but that low laugh was all she got. Biting her lip, she asked, "Wally? What's wrong?"

Wally sighed. "Nothing.. Nothing you need to worry about, anyway."

M'gann frowned. "You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm just.. stressed out about the session thing. It's good."

M'gann clearly didn't buy his very forced smile, but chose not to push the subject anymore. "Alright," she smiled. "Tell you what, I'll fix up a big breakfast and we can go for a walk later, k? That'll cheer you up, won't it?"

Wally grinned. "You know it, beautiful."

Almost convinced, seeing his usual flirty self back, M'gann nodded and walked out of the room again.

Wally laid his head back. He'd lied to her, and he knew she knew it. He wasn't stressed out about the session as much as he was about yelling at Artemis.

She probably didn't deserve it, and he only took his anger out on her. It wasn't too late to fix things, but he was afraid it wouldn't be easy.

Frowning, he took a deep breath and stood up.

"Gotta do it, Wal-man."

…

Dinah, having spent almost an hour looking for a bottle of medicine in the infirmary, groaned. Of course the bottle had to disappear. Just when she really needed it.

She sat down on one of the hard chairs and leaned helplessly against it.

Knock.

Stretching one eye open, Dinah glanced towards the door. Nah, it was probably just her thinking stuff. She let her eye close again.

Knock, knock.

Her eye twitched.

kNOCK, KNOCK KNOC-

"Jeez, who is it?!" she demanded, jumping up in fury as glaring at the door as it was swung open.

Wally, who had just entered, jumped back in surprised, evidently startled.

Dinah's hand flew to her mouth. "Oh! Wally! Sorry. I was just.. uh.."

Wally's eyebrows flew open. "Yelling.. at people?" he offered.

Dinah eyed him dryly. "Did you need something?" She asked, crossing her arms.

Wally nodded. "Yeah.. Can I talk to you for a minute?"

She smiled. "Of course," she replied. He let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you-"

"Right after you help me find that confounded medicine bottle."

…

"So.. you accidentally told her that?" Dinah asked. Wally didn't reply, but stared at the ground in his misery. "Did you mean it?'

Again, he was silent. He refused to meet her eyes. "I- I don't know." He managed finally, so quiet that Dinah had to stoop down to listen.

Dinally rolled her eyes. "Look, Wally, how long are you going to deny it?"

"Deny what?"

"Everything. You keep saying you don't care for her-"

"I don't!"

"-But deep down, you know you do. Whether it's just as friends or... more, you still do care for her," Dinah help up her hand to silence Wally as his mouth opened again. "Whatever you plan to do, if it's to apologize or not, I suggest you do it quickly. Before things get worse."

Wally nodded. He got up and walked towards the door. Glancing back at his trainer and "Den Mother", he said, "Thank you."

Dinah smiled. "You're welcome," she replied. "And.. Wally?"

"Yeah?"

"You should.. go easy on Artemis. She's been through a lot. More than any of you actually know."

Wally wanted to ask what she'd "been through", but decided against it. He gave her a small smile, and slipped out of the room, his mind made up to fix things before it was too late.

…

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to fix anything, like he had planned to. School kept him away from any missions that were there for the next week. Even he, the fastest boy alive, was unable to finish it in time.

When he was able to conquer that pile of dreaded homework and was back, he found out that Artemis hadn't been present in hero-work for a while and wouldn't be, due to "family issues."

This bothered him, but alas, there was nothing he could do about it.

One day, he walked into the training room, and behold, there stood Batman. Next to him were Green Arrow, Black Canary and Superman. Wally stopped in confusion. The four were talking in low voices. He thought he detected worry in Canary's tone, but he couldn't figure out why.

Hidden in the shadows, he edged a bit closer.

"Are you sure, Bruce?" Dinah asked.

"Positive."

Oliver spoke up next. "And you're sure there isn't anything the league can do to help?" His voice, unlike Dinah, was laced with anger. Whatever they were talking about, he didn't seem pleased with it, Wally figured.

"Yes, I'm afraid there isn't. She has to do this by herself."

At this, Wally saw Oliver wrap his arms around Dinah, and Dinah lay her head on his shoulder as he silently comforted her. Wally didn't see why she was so upset, but it seemed like his instructor was going through a lot.

Nervously glancing around, Wally darted back without another look at the four.


End file.
